OpenAI’s Sora App Faces Daily Losses of $1 Million Due to Video Plagiarism Issues

OpenAI’s video app Sora made its debut last September, quickly becoming a playground for users to create generative content, remixing everything from Dragon Ball Z to SpongeBob. However, the app is now shutting down, and a recent report sheds light on the reasons behind this decision. It was losing active users and draining the company’s finances—reportedly costing around $1 million a day.

At its height, Sora attracted 1 million daily users, but that number eventually fell to under 500,000. Despite the fun of creating videos featuring CEO Sam Altman interacting with Pikachu and transforming other copyrighted properties, the financial toll was steep. According to the report, “Sora was losing roughly a million dollars a day, according to a person familiar with the matter.”

The AI-driven video sharing platform aimed to win over customers and shift public perception, which has been increasingly skeptical of large language models, by showcasing that generative content could be entertaining. Disney was on board, even agreeing to invest $1 billion for services to integrate AI into its projects.

In February, outgoing Disney CEO Bob Iger informed investors that videos created with Sora would be part of a new short-form video feature on Disney+. There were even discussions about licensing special versions of the tools for Disney executives to use in storyboarding their live-action remakes and other projects.

Ironically, it seems Disney was completely unaware that OpenAI was planning to shut down Sora until just an hour before the announcement. Now, Disney is left in a scramble to find new AI partners, while Altman’s team is shifting its focus toward robotics for future ventures.